"Hello Dolly!"

Meet Dolly Woerner, a wife, mother, and lifelong nurse who taught nursing students for over thirty years. Dolly loves spending time reading, volunteering, and enjoying her family and continues to live an active, vibrant life in one of our UMH communities. Read more…

Meet Dorothy Woerner, or “Dolly,” as she prefers to be called, a resident of our Crosby Commons Independent and Assisted Living Community at Wesley Village in Shelton. Dolly has now been a resident at Crosby Commons for nearly a year.

She was born in Michigan and later moved to Massachusetts, eventually settling in Trumbull, Connecticut.  Throughout her life she worked as a nurse, a career she enjoyed, and also taught nursing students for over thirty years. She has two sons, Chuck and Tom, and enjoys her grandchildren, Edmund and Tom.

One of Dolly’s favorite memories of her childhood is the home her father bought in Maine where she spent many happy summers with her sister and parents. Though the house had no electricity or bathrooms at the time, it was still Dolly’s favorite place to visit as a child.  In fact, to this day, the house in Maine is still in Dolly’s family and her sons and their families continue to enjoy many happy summers there.

Dolly enjoys volunteering at her local United Methodist Church and continues to be extremely active in her community, as well as right here at Crosby Commons. She loves the experience of maintenance-free living and enjoys having everything right at her fingertips. She spends her time enjoying her life, while her meals are prepared for her, her apartment is kept clean and a full calendar of activities and events are planned for her to take advantage of. She has gotten to know many of the staff and values the relationships she has with them. She even volunteers each week at the Crosby Commons Country Store, a convenient little “store” that stocks necessities and other items for residents. Dolly loves having the opportunity to volunteer and always knew one day she would like to reside at Crosby Commons.

In addition to volunteering, Dolly also enjoys reading in her spare time. She likes watching television and her favorite shows, such as NCIS, Big Bang Theory and Blue Bloods.  Throughout her life, Dolly was fortunate to have the chance to travel with her husband to places like Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, in which she made many happy memories. She loves the theatre, especially opera, and fondly remembers going to see Neil Diamond in concert and how much she loved his show. Dolly also loves animals and even took in a stray cat, Frosty, whom she has kept as her companion for the last 13 years.

When asked to offer a piece of advice that she finds helpful, Dolly shared with us the importance of choosing good friends in life and mentioned this quote: “It’s easy to fall into the wrong crowd, but hard to get out of it.” Good advice, Dolly!

Dolly was interviewed May 6, 2015, by volunteers Christina Marino and Julie Hoff. Both girls are part of Girl Scout Troop 86, of Shelton, Connecticut, and are participating in our “Resident Spotlight” project as part of their Girl Scout community project. They are currently working to earn their Silver Award. The girls were thrilled to meet Dolly, hear her stories, and learn that Dolly was once a Girl Scout herself, and her mother was even a troop leader! They are looking forward to many more visits at Crosby Commons….many thanks to Christina and Julie for being part of this great project!